Michael Allan "Mike" Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor, best known as the lead singer of the alternative metal band Faith No More.[4]

Patton was born and raised in Eureka, California, where he formed Mr. Bungle, with Trey Spruance and Trevor Dunn, in 1984. During the late '80s Mr Bungle recorded the cassette-only recordings, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny, Goddammit I Love America, Bowel of Chiley and OU818, featuring tracks that would later be included on their first Warner Brothers album.

Faith No More's The Real Thing was released later that year. The album reached the top ten on the US charts, thanks largely to MTV's heavy rotation of the "Epic" music video, (which featured Patton in a Mr. Bungle T-shirt[5]).

When interviewed about his lyrical content with Faith No More, Patton responded, "I think that too many people think too much about my lyrics. I am more a person who works more with the sound of a word than with its meaning. Often I just choose the words because of the rhythm, not because of the meaning".[6]

During his time in Faith No More, Patton continued to work with Mr. Bungle. His success in mainstream rock and metal ultimately helped secure Mr. Bungle a record deal with Warner Bros.[7] The band released a self-titled album (produced by John Zorn) in 1991, and the experimental Disco Volante[8] in 1995. Their final album, California, was released in 1999.

There have been several projects over the years featuring Patton that have not been officially released, although some live bootlegs do circulate. These projects include House of Discipline (with Bob Ostertag and Otomo Yoshihide), Moonraker (with Agata Ichirou of Melt-Banana, Buckethead and DJ Eddie Def), Christian Fennesz and Mike Patton, and Patton & Rahzel. Patton contributed vocals to the Team Sleep song Kool-Aid Party, but the song did not make it onto the final album.[citation needed]

In 2005, Patton signed on to compose the soundtrack for the independent movie Pinion, marking his debut scoring an American feature-length film. However, this had been held up in production and may be on the shelf permanently.[10] His other film work includes portraying two major characters in the Steve Balderson film Firecracker. He has also expressed his desire to compose for film director David Lynch.

In February 2006, Mike Patton performed an operatic piece, composed by Eyvind Kang, at Teatro di Modena in Italy. Patton sang alongside vocalist Jessika Kinney, and was accompanied by the Modern Brass Ensemble, Bologna Chamber Choir, and Alberto Capelli and Walter Zanetti on electric and acoustic guitars. Patton remarked that it was extremely challenging to project the voice without a microphone.[11]

"I don't listen to the radio, but if I did, this is what I'd want it to sound like", Patton said of the project. "This is my version of pop music. In a way, this is an exercise for me: taking all these things I've learned over the years and putting them into a pop format."

—Mike Patton

In May 2007, he performed with an orchestra a few concerts in Italy, by the name of Mondo Cane, singing Italian oldies from the 50s and the 60s.

He is regarded as very hard-working. Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum remarked about Patton "caffeine is the only drug he does", in reference to the Faith No More song "Caffeine" from the album Angel Dust, which Patton wrote while in the middle of a sleep-deprivation experiment.[citation needed] He also worked on the Derrick Scocchera short film "A Perfect Place" for the score/soundtrack, which is longer than the film itself.[citation needed]

On May 4, 2010 Mondo Cane, where Patton worked live with a 30-piece orchestra, was released by Ipecac Recordings. The album was co-produced and arranged by Daniele Luppi.[15]

"Recorded at a series of European performances including an outdoor concert in a Northern Italian piazza, the CD features traditional Italian pop songs as well as a rendition of Ennio Morricone's 'Deep Down'."[16]

In February 2009, Faith No More announced that they were reforming for a tour and possibly new material, first as a footnote on a blurb for Patton's score for Crank: High Voltage and later as an official announcement on fnm.com.[20] Their first gig on the road again was on June 10, 2009 at the Brixton O2 Academy in London, where 1990's Live at the Brixton Academy was recorded. They have played as one of three headliners at The Download Festival 2009, in Castle Donington, which was Faith No More's first time at the festival. At the festival they played "Chinese Arithmetic" with Patton humorously singing the lyrics to "Poker Face" using a beat-box effect embellishing Gaga's vocal style. Bassist Billy Gould has also stated that an American tour is "not out of the question". In June 2009 Faith No More announced that they will be headlining the NME stage at Reading & Leeds festival.[21] On July 4, Faith No More performed a concert together at the Open'er Festival in Kosakowo Airport near Gdynia, Poland.

Faith No More also played the large Roskilde Festival near the city of Roskilde, Denmark.[22] Faith No More also performed in Portugal in Optimus Alive'10, where Mike Patton sang one song, "Evidence", completely in Portuguese. They had already played the same song completely in Italian on June 14, 2009, at the Rock in Idro Festival in Milan. August 12, 2009 was the date for FNM's first Turkish live appreance in Istanbul. On August 14, Faith no more played at the Spirit of Burgas Festival in Burgas, Bulgaria. Faith No More headlined the Australian Soundwave Festival in 2010. On August 27, 2009, Faith No More played in the Olympia Theatre in Dublin, Ireland and were supported by local band Adebisi Shank.

On September 1, 2009 Faith No More played at Israel Trade Fairs & Convention Center in Tel Aviv, Israel, supported by Monotonix and Dinosaur Jr. August 2009 Faith No More headlined the Radio 1/NME Stage at both Leeds & Reading Festival where they played the theme tune to popular UK Soap Eastenders as part of their setlist. On December 5, 2010, they played alongside Primus in Santiago de Chile,[23] which was the day after their performance at the Teleton Chile.[24] In 2011 they also performed at the Chilean Rock Concert Maquinaria[25] on November 12 and 13, as well as at the SWU Festival on November 15.[26]

Patton has garnered critical praise and has been made a heavy metal icon; however, Patton's reaction to this fame has been unconventional. He has acted irreverently towards the music industry, and expressed his distaste for the infamous lifestyles of rock stars. In a 1995 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, he stated: "It's hard to see as much as you'd like to with our schedule on the road, but it's harder to do coke and fuck whores every night. Now that's a full time job."[28] His attitude towards popular music is also evident in his songwriting, as Allmusic critic Cammila Albertson writes: "When Patton sings 'Roll it up and smoke it again/Bottoms up and drink it again/ Fix it up and shoot it again/ I can't believe I did it again,' (Mojo by Peeping Tom) he is keenly aware of the way it sounds for such an avant-garde composer as himself to recite perfect rock & roll cliches. His lyrics mock the self-important coolness of the music industry and self parody his own place in it."[29] His contempt for the over-the-top antics of figures in popular music is often cited as the main reason that Patton has always been so guarded about his privacy and personal life.[28] However, Patton has stated that he enjoyed his time in Faith No More:

"They were good years. It was a decade of my life. It was lots of ups and lots of downs, but ultimately that's where I learned my chops and learned the craft and the business."

Patton married Italian artist Cristina Zuccatosta in 1994. They separated in 2001. During an appearance on the radio show, Loveline (Listen), Patton said that it was a case of two people wanting different things and hinted that his excessive work habits may have been a factor. "It's very hard. It's a daily struggle", he commented in regards to the rigors of juggling a busy music career and a marriage. "It had to happen... Even though we knew each other really well when we got married, it doesn't get easier." He later added, "We're trying this. See what happens. There's still hope." Patton used to own a home in Bologna, Italy (which he sold around the time of the break-up), and speaks fluent Italian.[30]

Patton's right hand is permanently numb from an on-stage incident during his third concert with Faith No More, where he accidentally cut himself on a broken bottle and severed the tendons and nerves in his hand. He can use his hand, but he has no feeling in it (despite his doctor telling him the opposite would happen).[31]

A list published by the Chicago-based music website Consequence of Sound (CoS), acknowledged Mike Patton as "the greatest singer of all time."[34] The May 2014 article referenced VVN Music's (Vintage Vinyl News) analysis of various rock & pop singers, ranking them in order of their respective octave ranges.[35] The article served as a retraction to a previous article,[36] which originally awarded the number one position to Axl Rose. Both articles praised Patton's impressive 6 octaves, 1/2 note range (Eb1 to E7), versus Axl's admirable 5 octaves, 2-1/2 notes (while mentioning, for transparency, that world record holder Tim Storms has a range of 10 octaves). Others in the top 10 included Diamanda Galás, David Lee Roth, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, Mariah Carey, Phil Anselmo, German singer Nina Hagen, and Devin Townsend.

2008 – Metalocalypse – Patton voices the character of reformed rocker Rikki Kixx on episodes "Snakes n Barrels II" part one and part two. This special 2 part, half-hour presentation aired on Adult Swim August 24, 2008.